INSID E THIS ISS UE:
FOCUS
News from the School of Business and Economics
April 29, 2013
A Message from Dean Bailey
As we transition from the close of
spring semester 2013 to finals week,
there are many activities and events
that represent the culmination of the
academic year.
SBE administration will attend a
reception and dinner at Graylyn
International Conference Center to
recognize the accomplishments of the
Small Business Technology Development
Centers of the state of North Carolina.
The Center which serves the Piedmont
Triad region operates under the
auspices of the SBE
and is headed by Mr.
Robert Weston,
Regional Director.
On Thursday, May 2,
there will be a Faculty
Awards Luncheon in
which those who have
made significant
contributions to the
Dr. Jessica Bailey
university will be
recognized. On
Friday, May 3, an Awards Ceremony will
be held to recognize all university
employees who have distinguished
themselves during the past academic
year.
Finally, don’t forget to listen to
WSNC 90.5 Genuine Jazz Thursday
evening, May 2. The station will be
broadcasting an interview with me
concerning the recently opened SBE
Finance Lab and the Student
Investment Fund.
Give a listen!
Jessica Bailey
Volume 4, Issue 16
A Message from Dean Bailey
1 NCACPA Professionals’ Meeting Held at Cities
2
Awards Luncheon Honors Athletes
1 MHA Program Panel Discussion
3
Chomp-N-Chat Meeting with the Dean
1 AITP Spring Event
3
Student Profile—Jontraye Davis
2 Administrative Professionals Meeting
3
Awards Luncheon Honors Athletes
Winston-Salem State University held
its Annual Athletics Awards Luncheon at the
Benton Convention Center Wednesday,
April 24. The annual event is designed to
honor the athletes of the university in the
presence of their families, friends, the
sports media, and the campus community.
Dean Jessica Bailey and Dr. Edward
Zajicek represented the SBE at the event
where several business school athletes
were honored. Dr. Zajicek serves as the
Athletic Advisor for SBE student athletes.
The first part of the event began with
greetings from Mayor Pro Tempe Vivian
Burke and Mayor Allen Joines, as well as
greetings from Chancellor Donald J.
Reaves and Athletic Director William
Hayes. The keynote speaker, Jacqui
Carpenter, spoke about her advancement
from a position on a basketball team to the
position of Sports Commissioner of the
CIAA. She emphasized the outstanding job
being done by WSSU in preparing its
student athletes for the challenges of their
future careers, while getting the most out of
their athletic experiences.
Chancellor Reaves was proud in
announcing the winning three winning
teams of WSSU during AY 2012-2013:
football, baseball, and men’s tennis.
Coach Hayes closed by introducing all
dignitaries in attendance at the event.
Following a ten-minute intermission, the
second part of the event, which was longer
in duration, individually recognized each
student athlete who devoted their skills to
the glory of WSSU last year.
It was a grand celebration.
Chomp-N-Chat Meeting
The last Chomp-&-Chat session of the
academic year was held Monday, April 22, at
12:00 noon in RJR 107. It was attended by a
host of students and many faculty members,
who enjoyed the pizza, desserts, and soft
drinks. The Chomp-&-Chat tradition was
begun by Dean Jessica Bailey shortly after her
arrival at the SBE as a means of getting to
know the students and providing an
opportunity for individuals to converse with
the school’s administration outside of the
formal classroom setting. These four
sessions, held annually, have been quite
successful in allowing students the chance to
speak with the dean on any topics of their
choice.
Dr. Bailey visits with Vanity Oakes,
Carlos Sawyer and Dawn Swinnie
Last Monday’s session centered on the
career aspirations of the students in
attendance, many of whom were seniors.
Specifically, some are in the throes of
deciding among extremely attractive job
offers and weighing those choices against a
backdrop of their own personal long-term
strategic goals. Many in attendance, faculty
and students, were able to offer good advice
and much needed support.
If you have not already attended a Chomp-&Chat, watch for the announcements of
upcoming sessions beginning in the fall.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
FOCUS is published weekly by the School of Business and Economics at Winston-Salem State University. For information concerning
the newsletter, or to contribute an article, please contact Ben Greene at (336) 750-2330 or by forwarding an e-mail to
greenebp@wssu.edu.
FOCUS News
Page 2
Student Profile—Jontraye Davis
(By Aparna Shivram, MHA Student and Graduate Assistant)
Jontraye Davis is currently
enrolled in the MHA program at the
School of Business and Economics
and also works as a graduate
assistant there. Jontraye has an
undergraduate degree in Public
Health Education from the University
of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Jontraye wears multiple hats as a
part-time graduate school student
with three jobs. He works in the
MHA/MBA office as an Administrative
Graduate Assistant, a Nurse
Technician with Cone Health System,
and Sexual Health Educator with the
Family Life Council a division of The
Children's Home Society of North
Carolina. In his spare time he loves
traveling, cooking, reading, and
simply watching television.
Jontraye thinks that his time
spent at WSSU has been AMAZING!!
His work as a graduate assistant at
The Enterprise Center has been
incredible in terms of exposure and
networking. Recently, he teamed up
with Enactus to create a business
plan that will highlight the Simon's
Green Acre Community Garden. The
proposed business plan will create a
farmer's market that will use
produce from the garden. We are
looking forward to more information
about the business plan and
proposed market.
Jontraye’s biggest asset is his
adaptability. He graduated with a
Bachelor's of Science in Public
Health Education, focusing on
sexual health education. Then he
entered the MHA program without a
background in business or
administration. Thinking like a
"businessman" required a complete
change in his thought process. But
he successfully did it. The skills he
has learned while attending
graduate school at WSSU has given
him confidence that he will be able
to manage and operate a non-profit
effectively.
Jontraye recently served as the
MHA student representative to the
Bachelor of Healthcare
Management/Master of Healthcare
Administration combined
information session held at the F.L.
Atkins School of Health Sciences.
Upon graduation, Jontraye
hopes to be selected to enroll into a
fellowship program outside of the
State of North Carolina. His first
choice would be to work in Miami as
a fellow in the Mount Sinai Health
System. With more than 3,000
employees, 500 volunteers, 26
operating suites and 700 physicians,
this health system is Florida’s
largest independent not-for-profit
teaching hospitals.
Jontraye’s longer term goal
is to operate or direct a non-profit
organization geared toward sexual
health education.
.
Errata
In the April 15 issue of Focus, Dr.
Sharon White was incorrectly
identified as Professor of
Management Information Systems
in the article on the Beta Gamma
Sigma induction ceremony. Her
correct title is Chair of the
Department of Accounting and MIS
and Associate Professor of
Management Information Systems.
North Carolina Association of
Certified Public Accountants holds
Professionals’ Networking Event
Briana Rose and Dante Weston
represented the School of Business
and Economics at the Professional
Networking Event held by the North
Carolina Association of Certified
Public Accountants (NCACPA) at
Winston-Salem’s Cities Grill on April
25.
At the event, they were
recognized by Greg Keoleian , a
NCACPA Board member from the Bank
of the Carolinas, as Chapter
Scholarship recipients. Each received
a financial scholarship, a certificate
and a small gift bag. Donte, a rising
junior, is an
Accounting/MIS major
and Briana, a senior, is
an English/Accounting
major. Both Briana and
Donte expressed their
appreciation to the
NCACPA organization
for their support and encouragement.
While there, they met Ms. Jeanne
Ormsby, incoming President of the
Northwest Piedmont Chapter. They
also had an opportunity to meet
professionals from Wake Forest
Baptist Health, Lincoln Financial
Group, area banks, wealth
management firms, headhunters,
legal and accounting firms as well as
with student recipients from other
area colleges and universities,
including Wake Forrest, Salem and
Davidson Community College.
The Professional Networking
Event is a socializing opportunity for
members and guests to build their
professional network. Guests of
Briana and Donte included family and
friends along with Ms. Deborah
Stephenson, Clinical Instructor of
Accounting, and a member of the
NCACPA. She attended in honor of
both Briana and Donte.
FOCUS News
MHA Program Panel
Discussion
The Master of Healthcare
Administration program held its third
annual executive panel discussion
entitled Healthcare Pathways for the
Future in the RJ Reynolds Center on
April 22. The panelists included Bob
Cain, Vice President of Piedmont
HomeHealth, LaShun Huntley, CEO of
Southside Health and Wellness Center,
and Allan Younger, Director of the
Small Business Center at Forsyth
Technical Community College. Adjunct
Professor Doug Atkinson served as
moderator for the event. In attendance
were MHA and MBA students along with
Dean Jessica Bailey and Program
Coordinator Stephanie Joseph.
Students and Panelists
The panel briefly discussed the
anticipated changes in the healthcare
delivery system under the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act and
spoke at length about prospects for and
means to uniquely approach the job
market. In particular, they stressed a
passionate approach to work and the
patients they serve. They also
discussed the problem of health
disparities in the presence of disease,
and the quality of and access to care.
The panel emphasized some of the
positive developments in efforts to
ensure equality in medical care,
provide unique solutions to the
provision of universal care and
encouraged the students to participate
in Linked In and other social networks
to increase their opportunities in the
healthcare industry.
Page 3
AITP Holds Spring Event
(written by Jeneh Kennedy, AITP President and
Senior Accounting and MIS double major)
The Association of Information
Technology Professionals (AITP) hosted
their annual spring event on Tuesday,
April 23 featuring Guest Speaker Mrs.
Barbara J. Ellis, Vice Chancellor and
Chief Information Officer, Division of
Information
Technology at North
Carolina
Agricultural and
Technical State
University. Mrs.
Ellis encouraged
students in
Barbara J. Ellis
attendance to
branch out and not be fearful of risk
taking. She described the most lucrative
positions in the Information Technology
field and challenged the IT and other
School of Business majors to work
diligently, put aside their hesitancy to
AITP Students with guest speaker
approach goals in an aggressive fashion
and pursue networking opportunities
whenever possible.
Mrs. Ellis had a successful career
spanning more than 30 years in
management and executive positions
with IBM. After retiring, she accepted
the Interim CIO position of North
Carolina Central University and
launched her own consulting business.
In April of 2010, she joined NC A&T as
Vice Chancellor and CIO.
Administrative
Professionals Conference
On Thursday, April 25, the
Annual Administrative Professionals
Conference was held at WinMock to
benefit the administrative
professionals of Winston-Salem State
University, Wake Forest University,
Salem College, and Forsyth Technical
Community College. One of the
planners of the conference was Mrs.
Joyce Jenkins, Business Manager of
the School of Business and
Economics. Also in attendance was
Ms. Mary Fries, Administrative
Assistant of the Department of
Accounting and Management
Information Systems.
This year’s conference was sold
out. The event, which has a
reputation for being educational as
well as fun, included several high
profile guest speakers. Ms. Carol
Caffarel, an entrepreneur, trainer,
teacher, and professional speaker,
spoke on the topic of “A Brand New
Look Called Y-O-U”. She shared a
life lesson on making the most of
your wardrobe. Jackye Morrissey
spoke about the insights that she
gained from her life experiences.
Her training enabled her to become
free from clutter and disorganization
and she passed on this information to
those in attendance.
The closing speaker, Janet
Harllee, is an internationally-known
storyteller speaker, character
actress, and songwriter. She took
the stage as “Misty Lou
Puppernickel,” a tacky Southern
hairdresser from Frog Holler who
thinks she is on the cutting edge of
fashion. Ms. Harllee used her humor
to encourage participants to work
through stress without allowing it to
control their lives.
The administrative assistants of
the SBE are already planning to
attend next year’s event. They
anticipate it being even bigger and
better.
Congratulations
To each of our Master of Business Administration,
Master of Healthcare Administration and Bachelor of
Science majors who will be graduating on May 18, 2013.
The School of Business and Economics will hold an
Awards Banquet on Friday, May 17 to honor
outstanding achievement by seniors from each of our
departments and our graduate students. All May SBE
graduates will be invited to this event.